


A Lesson in Self Defense

by liionne



Category: The Host - Stephenie Meyer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2013-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-08 22:59:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They want her to learn to protect herself, but Wanda's not so sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lesson in Self Defense

"I don't see why this is necessary." Wanda said, as she followed Jared and Melanie to the wall outside the cave. No one blind folded her now; they new she would have no reason to bring any of her kind here. She was trusted, she was a part of the community; she was almost human. 

"Because if you get into trouble you need to be able to defend yourself." Jared answered.

"I don't need to protect myself," Wanda returned. "My kind would never hurt one of their own."

"It's not your kind we're worrying about." Ian murmured, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. 

"Oh," Wanda murmured. "Right."

Humans, they meant. Her own kind would take her in, look after her, make sure that she wasn't suffering for a single second, because they were loving, compassionate creatures, who could not turn out one of their own no matter where they had been or what they had done. But he humans were different; they were overly wary and bitter. They were trigger happy, they prejudiced against the other race, stereotyped them till there was nothing left but hatred. If they saw her, they weren't going to wait around to hear about what she'd been doing the past year and a half. They'd kill her, plain and simple.

Humans were so predictable.

"So you see why we have to do this," Melanie said from up ahead. She stopped when she decided where they would practice. "We don't want you getting hurt."

"Or worse." Jared added. Wanda shuddered, and Ian squeezed her hand again.

Wanda looked around, and noticed for the first time what they had stopped for. Bags of sand were suspended from the cave wall, each at differing heights. They had targets painted on them, and they looked a bit battered. Wanda chewed her lower lip, her hand trembling uneasily in Ian's.

"This is yours." Jared said, holding the revolver out to her. "Keep it where you want to, but don't lose it. We don't have a lot of these."

Wanda wrinkled her nose at the gun in Jared's outstretched hand. She shied away from it, into Ian's arm. "I really don't want to-"

"Please," Melanie said, her voice low. "We don't want to lose you."

Wanda sighed. She continued to chew her lower lip, debating internally with herself. 

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Ian reminded her, taking a tighter grip on her hand as he looked down into her silver-rimmed eyes. The love in his made her mind up. She took the gun, felt the weight of it in her palm, and kept her finger firmly away from the trigger.

"'Kay Wanda," Jared said, putting his hands in his pockets and smiling. "We're gonna start close range. It's easier. Just stand five feet away from that sandbag over there." 

He pointed to the first sandbag on the wall, and Wanda walked quickly and purposefully towards it. She wanted to get this over with. She had dropped Ian's hand, but he had followed her all the same. He stood behind her slightly, and Mel and Jared stood to her right.

"It's not loaded," Ian told her. "You've got to insert the rounds."

He handed her a small metal container, and she nodded. She thought she knew where to put it. She had seen one being used before, in the hand of a rebel human. She loaded it quickly, and felt slightly sick when she realised she had done it.

"Now hold it in your dominant hand." Ian instructed. "You can hold it with both if you want, but make sure your dominant  
hand is on the inside."

Wanda decided that both hands was safest. She held her arms out in front of her, keeping them stock straight. 

"Stand with your legs apart, about shoulder width, and make sure you've got a tight grip on it, okay Wanda? Just keep steady. And, when you're ready, gently squeeze the trigger." Ian almost whispered the last instructions to her, and then he took a step back. 

"Take your time." Mel called from the sidelines.

Wanda took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, concentrating on steadying her breathing, and then she opened only her right eye, her dominant eye. She held the gun farther up, so she could see where the barrel would be pointing. She was shaking, nerves getting the best of her. This was the most violence she had ever endured, ever forced herself into. It went against every fibre of her being, but knowing that Ian was happier with her having knowledge on the subject, she fired the gun.

She released the trigger almost as soon as she had pressed it, but she didn't have to wait to see results. The sandbag split open from somewhere near the bottom, and the sand poured onto the ground. Wanda lowered the gun, pulling her index finger away from the trigger. She exhaled in a gust. 

"I did it!" She smiled, elation welling up inside of her. "Ian, I did it!" She spun round, grinning at him.

"Woah-" He held his hands up, stepping back. She frowned. And then she realised. 

"Oh." She murmured. She unloaded the revolver easily, and dropped the thing onto the ground. 

Ian smiled, now not as worried that he was going to get shot. He hugged her, closing the distance between them in one stride to embrace her. "I'm proud of you, Wanda." He murmured into her hair. The relief he felt at knowing she would be safe if she were ever on her own felt good.

"I'm proud of you too." Melanie smiled, hugging her new sister gently around the shoulders when she was released by Ian.

"Now all you gotta do is practice." Jared grinned.

Wanda frowned slightly. "I think I've had enough for tonight..." She murmured, looking at the gun that was still quite unappealing to her.

"Sure," Jared nodded. He picked up the gun and the rounds, and held them out to her. She put the gun in the pocket of her jacket, and slipped the rounds into her back pocket.

Ian set an arm around her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head. He led her back inside, knowing that a lot less encouragement would be needed to get her out there tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> So basically this has been my first time writing The Host things, and I hope it went okay. But also, I have absolutely zero gun knowledge, so I hope this didn't upset or annoy anyone who dos.


End file.
